Hubbard man sentenced for child sexual abuse

A Hubbard man accused of sex crimes involving a 6-year-old child has pleaded guilty to the charges against him and been sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Earnest Shottenkirk, 36, was arrested in Hubbard in June 2013, along with his father, Duane Shottenkirk, 62, for alleged crimes against an unidentified family member. Earnest Shottenkirk was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, while his father was assessed the same charges and numerous others.

The pair lived at a home in the 25000 block of Barlow Road in unincorporated Canby in 2011.

The son was scheduled to be tried in Clackamas County Circuit Court on May 15. However, according to court records, the defendant instead pleaded guilty to both charges in lieu of a trial.

He was sentenced by Clackamas County Circuit Judge Kathie Steele to 75 months (six years, three months) in prison  which is the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree sex abuse under Measure 11. He was also assessed 45 months (three years, nine months) of post-prison supervision.

Earnest Shottenkirk has since been transferred to the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections.

He was represented by Oregon City attorney Arthur Knauss. The prosecutor in the case was Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Russell Amos.

In addition to two counts of first-degree sex abuse, Duane Shottenkirk faces six counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the first degree and 20 counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the second degree. His trial was set for this month but has been rescheduled to begin Sept. 11 in Clackamas County.

His bail is set at $500,000. He remains in custody at the Clackamas County Jail.

The pair was arrested June 14, 2013, after a lengthy investigation led by the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office Child Abuse Team, with the assistance of the FBI, the Inter-agency Child Exploitation Prevention Team (Inter-CEPT) and the Oregon Department of Human Services. The duo was first taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

According to police, the reported victim was a family member who was 6 years old when the alleged abuse occurred. Duane Shottenkirk also allegedly solicited and distributed child pornography.